


Where'd You Go? I Missed You So

by Velocity_Owl87



Series: Loup!Verse [16]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Children, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Future, M/M, Original Character(s), Reunions, Slice of Life, Survival, Were-Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-05
Updated: 2013-04-05
Packaged: 2017-12-07 13:48:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/749216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velocity_Owl87/pseuds/Velocity_Owl87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He's been wandering for what seems years, almost without hope until he stumbles upon a wild animal that inadvertedly leads him to what he was looking for all this time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where'd You Go? I Missed You So

**Author's Note:**

> Another addition to the sideways universe here. I honestly have no idea where this came from, other than it was born out of a throwaway line when trying to impress someone. Heh. Anyways. Title is from Fort Minor's "Where'd You Go?" because homesickness is hitting me hard and I thought it would work here.

He squinted at the harsh winter sunlight and stumbled over a snow-covered log. He limped heavily once he had regained his footing. The ice and snow weren’t doing his feet, clad in their threadbare boots any favours.  He was sure that he was frostbitten and would probably lose a couple of toes. That was if the wild animals didn’t get him first. He knew that there were wolves or big cats in those woods, despite how serene they looked. Despite the assurances of the less wary townsfolk he had stumbled upon several days? Weeks?  He wasn’t sure.

He was losing days as he travelled through the woods in search of food and shelter. He didn’t dare let himself be angry at not being allowed to stay in the last settlement he had come across. He knew that everyone, not just him, had it hard. Everyone was living on the brink of annihilation and even though he proved he was strong and could survive and possibly even provide for the colony, they couldn’t risk taking him in.

Despite the fact that it hurt, having to be turned out; He gave them his thanks and kept on going. It was getting exhausting, the constant moving. The constant rejection from everyone he met. He tried to not take it personal, but it was hard. He was tired. So tired that it was getting harder and harder to keep on going, but he didn’t dare give up. Not when everyone else he knew hadn’t made it. It would be a waste to give up.

So he had regretfully moved on with the meager supplies that they had offered him in exchange for the last few useful guns he had picked up in the warehouse when he had understood the scope of the situation. He had kept the shotguns and the large knives though. He wasn’t stupid.

But now, his supplies were nearly gone and his layers weren’t sufficient enough against the winter that had suddenly turned harsh. He had been lucky to have survived on stream water and the occasional fish he had managed to catch. Yet, if he didn’t find a settlement or an outpost soon, he would die. He knew that as surely as he knew the sun rose in the east.

He was so tired though and he desperately wanted to sleep, but forced himself to keep on going, even though his lungs were burning and his feet had gone numb hours and hours ago. He didn’t dare stop, because he knew he would be done for if he did. Despite wanting desperately to live and clinging to the hope that he would find a place and a community to be with, he knew he would give into death if he were to stop.  He would lie down in that snow and die.

So he slogged on by and kept putting one foot in front of the other, unaware of his surroundings until he heard the snap of a branch in the almost deathly silent forest.

He paused and looked up, but only caught the sight of a small body moving. He was so tired and his vision so blurry that he couldn’t clearly see if it was a wolf or a bobcat. He figured that it was a young thing and he had probably accidentally stumbled into its territory. He noted the direction and started to walk towards it, the trek becoming harder and harder as his body’s pains and aches decided to make themselves known.  

Although he wasn’t keen on following a predator, he was sure that the animal was aware of him and was leading him away and hopefully toward human habitation. As skittish as it was and as slim a chance as it was, he had nothing left to lose and decided to take that chance.  His nose ran and he pressed his mittened hand to his scarves and wiped the moisture away. He hated it when that happened, but it wasn’t as if he could stop it. He sniffed and kept on walking, careful this time of where he put his feet in order to make as little noise as possible.

He trudged on, not really noticing the surroundings until he stumbled again and went sprawling into a clearing that was suspiciously free of snow and was covered in woodchips, fur and other debris that was definitely _not_ from an animal den.  He raised himself on his knees and elbows, but that was as far as he got when he felt someone press a shotgun to his forehead. He froze and waited for the person to make his move.

“You’ve got a minute to tell me what the hell are you doing here and what you want.”

“I am looking for shelter and food. I don’t want to cause trouble.” He replied, keeping his head down and raising his hands in a gesture of surrender.

The silence between them stretched out and he wondered if he was going to die, kneeling, on the side of a mountain somewhere in the Rockies. His breathing was loud and harsh in his ears and to his immense shame and surprise; his eyes were starting to tear up something awful.  He didn’t move. At least not until the gun was pulled away and the other man got closer to him.

“Show me your face.”

He blinked and was taken aback at the command. He didn’t move for several moments until a huff of impatience got him scrambling to take off the balaclava and scarves he had on. Once he had dropped them on the ground, he looked up.

And had his jaw drop when he saw whose territory he had happened upon.

~*~*~*~*~

Jaro was the first to notice the change in the forest. He was usually the one bounding out in the front and had to be called back by his dam to stay with his brother Adam. He had done that, when they had first set out to go fishing. But he had quickly come back and hesitated to move too far from his dam and was even hiding behind him.

He wouldn’t say what was wrong and only clung tighter to Michal, who decided to drop the issues and bring it up with Matt once they went home.  Michal was concerned, but didn’t make a big deal out of it. He didn’t want for his sons to get too twitchy and not learn the proper skills needed to take care of themselves. Although the mountain was relatively peaceful, he didn’t want them to not have the skills to take care of themselves if necessary.

Besides, he wasn’t sure if he was right. There was a scent that was not quite _right._ It had triggered a memory of something in him, but he couldn’t quite jar it loose at the moment. He made a note of it and instead, herded his kits together before they went back home again. He would have liked for them to have been able to catch a few more fish, but he would rather come back tomorrow once the threat had moved on.

He didn’t show any signs of nervousness. Not even when they arrived at the cabin to find Matt busy with scraping a hide in preparation to drying and tanning it.

“There’s something else out there.” Michal told Matt casually, his tail twitching when he brought the twins inside the cabin after they had managed to get some fish from the lake.

Matt frowned at Michal’s calm announcement before putting down the scraper and squatting down to look at his kits. Adam was happily purring as he brought his fish to show him the fruits of his labour. But Jaro was holding back, clinging to Michal’s leg. Matt’s mouth thinned in a pale line at the sight of Jaro nervously hiding behind Michal.

He smiled at Adam, who gave a chirruping purr and raised his arms to be picked up. Matt put the fish onto a clean plate Michal had laid out on the table and picked his kit up. Jaro, seeing this, mewled and Michal bent to scoop him up into his arms.  Once he was safely ensconced in his dam’s arms, Jaro gave a soft mewl and buried his face into Michal’s chest.

“I’ll check around after we put them down for a nap.” Matt replied casually, shifting Adam onto his hip and moving towards the other room that served as the family bedroom.

Although he was worried, he didn’t want to show it to the rest of the family.

Michal shook his head and took Adam from him. “I’ll put them down so you can do that. Take the gun with you.”

Matt’s eyes widened at the command, but he didn’t pause or freeze or give the children any indication that they should worry.

“Allright. I’ll go out now. I’ll see you guys later, okay?” He asked his sons, who nodded and curled up against their dam. Michal gave him a brief smile before he disappeared into the partition that was their bedroom.

Matt sighed and went to get his shotgun from the shelf that they kept the guns and ammunition on. If Michal was asking him to take a look and to carry a weapon, there were humans around.  Michal wasn’t _quite_ afraid of humans, per se. But he remembered all too well what had happened the last time that he had been near a group of them and now with the kits, he wasn’t ever going to risk that harm to come to them.

He couldn’t blame him. He had seen the scars and Michal’s tail was never going to be the same and he loved his kits. So he loaded the shotgun, made sure the safety was on and then shoved a couple of more rounds into his pocket before stepping outside. He moved away from the house and closed his eyes to concentrate on listening. The woods were quiet enough that he could pick up anything with his hearing, so he waited. If anything was out there, they would attack at any given moment. He just had to be patient.

He heard it after ten minutes of silence: The awkward shuffling and the thud of someone losing their footing and falling onto the ground. There, by the wood chopping block. He heard the ragged breathing, the rustling and shifting of old clothing as the person moved and he wasted no more time. He snapped to attention and rushed over to the intruder.

He flicked the safety off and shoved the end into the intruder’s covered forehead, making him freeze. 

Matt knew then, from the way that the intruder moved and the rank smell of fear and regret and tears appeared in the air, that this was no killer. But then, he hadn’t survived that long without being cautious.

He asked what he wanted there, and the intruder’s voice shook as he replied. Matt frowned at the sound of the voice. He knew that voice. He remembered that voice from somewhere. In the past, he had known it. But he didn’t want to raise up his hopes and besides, the man’s face was covered with layers of wool, muffling both the sound of his voice and his features. Matt wasn’t going to risk Michal or his pups for a tattered memory.

“Show me your face.”

He backed away once he gave the command, his finger on the trigger just in case things didn’t go to plan. The stranger’s shoulders slumped, but he obeyed the command, unwinding the ragged scarves and balaclava that protected his head from the cold. Once he was done, the stranger raised his head to reveal his features. Long, greasy hanks of blonde hair framed his face, matching the beard that covered most of the reddened and frostbitten face. The eyes though, were what made Matt take his finger off the trigger and slide the safety on.

The stranger’s mouth fell open when their gazes met and Matt smiled a crooked half-smile when recognition hit, belying the hammering of his heart in his chest.

“D-Dutchy? Is that you?”

Matt lowered the gun and held out his hand.

“Yeah, Landy. It’s me.”

Landy smiled and took the hand that was being held out to him and got to his feet painfully.  He swayed, but Matt pulled him into a one armed hug that he sunk into gratefully.

There were so many things he wanted to say, but the words only stuck in his throat at the overwhelming tangle of emotions that welled up inside of him. Landy…Landy was alive. Landy was here.

But instead, he brought himself under control and was practical instead. Even though Landy had on multiple layers, he could feel the outline of bone and the lightness of him.

“Come on. I’m sure you could use a meal and somewhere warm to sleep.”

Landy laughed thickly, pulling away and wiping at his painful looking cheeks.

“Those are the best words I’ve heard in a long, long time.”

Matt smiled. “Good. Come on then. Food’s waiting.”

END


End file.
